Moldovan Centrist Party Courts Communist Defector

CHISINAU -- A popular Moldovan politician who left the ruling Communist Party has received an offer to join a centrist party, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports.

Former parliament speaker Marian Lupu said on June 10 that he was leaving outgoing President Vladimir Voronin's Communist Party, which has led the country for the last decade.

Lupu, who was to be nominated as the Communists' candidate for prime minister, said he left the party because it is unable to reform itself.

Democratic Party leader Dumitru Diacov said he would like Lupu to join his group and even take over the chairmanship of the party, which is not currently in parliament.

Lupu told RFE/RL that he is in touch with several parties and will announce his new affiliation next week. He did not comment on Diacov's offer.

Some analysts in Chisinau had predicted Lupu would not join the parliamentary opposition -- which has been locked in a bitter struggle with the Communists since the controversial April elections -- but would instead seek to revive a centrist party and run in the next elections with a message of national reconciliation, which could attract many people who have become weary of political conflict.